TORONTO, ONTARIO--(MARKET WIRE)--Jan 5, 2009 -- ANDINA Minerals Inc. (CDNX:ADM.V -News) ("Andina") is pleased to announce that, effective January 19, 2009, Mr. George Bee will be joining Andina as President, Chief Executive Officer and a Director. His immediate primary focus will be driving the next phase of development at the Volcan Gold Project in Chile by assembling and spearheading a first class team which will complete a technical study of the project during 2009. Mr. Bee will also be responsible for the broader corporate strategy, including business development matters, as well as maintaining Andina's positive profile in Chile and the capital markets.
"We are very pleased that George has agreed to join Andina. The acceptance of this position by an individual of George's calibre underscores our belief that Volcan is among the larger, more significant gold finds of late, with the real potential to become a major long-life gold mining operation", said Sean Harvey, Chairman of Andina. "With nearly 30 years in the mining industry, much of it spent in South America, developing, building and operating large projects, his expertise will be essential to drive Volcan forward to its next stage of development and beyond."
Mr. Bee joins Andina most recently from Aurelian Resources (recently acquired by Kinross Gold Corporation) where he held the title of Chief Operating Officer and was primarily responsible for the development of Aurelian's principle project, the Fruta del Norte Project in Ecuador. Prior to that George was Director, Technical Projects for Barrick Gold Corporation. George first joined Barrick in 1989 and during his career at Barrick was responsible for a number of operating and development projects. In 1998, he went to Latin America as Operations Manager to finalize construction and commence operations at the Pierina mine in Peru. In 2005, with the development of the Veladero mine, he completed his assignment to finalize the advanced exploration and feasibility stages of this large tonnage, low-grade heap leach operation located at altitude in the Argentine Andes.
"I am excited to be part of the dynamic growth story that is unfolding at Andina", said Mr. Bee. I have spent many years working in South America and I am pleased to be back working in such a mining friendly country as Chile again. I look forward to enjoying many successes at Andina in building a strong mining company benefiting Andina's shareholders and stakeholders through responsible mineral development."
Mr. Bee's 29-year mining career began as a miner in a Cornish tin mine and has culminated in successively more responsible senior operational roles in some of the world's leading mining companies. While working in South America, he led successful government and community relations programs that were critical to gaining social license. Mr. Bee has built and overseen various operational management teams and managed at existing mines, including Barrick's Goldstrike mine in Nevada. In addition to senior operational roles at Barrick, he was a senior manager at Kinross and Palabora Mining Company in South Africa. Mr. Bee holds a Bachelor of Science in Mining from the Camborne School of Mines. He is comfortable interacting, leading and managing at all levels of spoken and written Spanish and has built many important relationships in Latin America, a premier location for exploration and mining.
The Board of Directors would like to thank Mr. Carl Hansen, who will be stepping down from the position of President and Chief Executive Officer of Andina on January 16, 2009, for his dedication and commitment to bringing Andina to this point. Mr. Hansen has been a key figure in the rapid growth Andina has achieved since its inception in 2004. Mr. Hansen will continue as a Director and employee until February 28, 2009 to assist during the transition phase.
As part of Mr. Bee's employment agreement, the Board of Directors has granted him 1,000,000 options, which are exercisable at CDN$1.08 (based on the closing price on January 5, 2009 on the TSX Venture Exchange) and expire on January 5, 2014.